The red thread of fate
by ZoeTsunami
Summary: Just a little one-shot with Minato and Kushina - I hope you enjoy!


One-shot: The red thread of fate

Her feet dragged against the ground as with every step her beat up body became heavier. She was having trouble keeping up with her captors' pace, but they didn't seem to care.

There were four of them, each one strong and skilled, as far as she could tell. And she, a mere genin, hadn't stood a chance.

She knew what this was about. She had heard that her chakra was different. Special. And that was why other villages were after her. If she didn't come quietly, they would use force.

Was she really that valuable? She found that hard to believe. After all, everyone was frequently telling her how worthless she was.

She felt her hated red hair tickling her fingers tied behind her back by a secure rope.

In a sudden burst of anger she ripped out a small strand. She didn't feel pain, merely a small bit of satisfaction as the strand slipped from her fingers to the ground. Her captors didn't notice.

An idea came to her as she staggered over a couple of roots on the ground. She tripped and fell, only to be pulled back up by the hair into a standing position.

She carefully tore at another strand, dropping it to the ground. A brief hope surged through her – maybe someone would notice the hair and realize she was gone.

But after two more small strands had fallen silently, even that tiny hope vanished.

Who would even search for her, after all?

She closed her aching eyes and walked blindly, stumbling and tripping all the while, clumsily following her foreign captors, resigned to her fate.

They walked for what seemed a very long time. She knew that they must be close to the border by now. She had abandoned all hope of being rescued.

There was a swishing sound, and she felt something rush past her at an immense speed. She blamed this on her imagination, and her distraught senses playing a trick on her, so she kept walking with the same pace, her eyes to the ground.

The swishing sound returned, and she heard one of the men exclaiming softly, before several low thuds.

The grip on the rope tying her became slack.

She looked up slowly, through a curtain of red hair, and tried to make out something in the dark.

A cloud that had obscured the light of the full moon passed overhead, revealing a single figure standing before her.

She recognized him as Minato.

"It's alright now," he said. "I've come to save you."

His words were dull, and somehow their meaning didn't reach her. Instead she felt her feet give way beneath her and she fell to her knees.

In a second Minato darted forwards, catching her before she hit the ground. In a swift movement he scooped her up into his arms and straightened up.

She gasped softly, her eyes focused again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you home," was his answer. And with that he jumped up above the treetops, the leaves rustling in the wind.

The moon that shone brightly above the forest illuminated his face as she looked up at him.

He came to a stop on top of a tall tree and met her gaze.

She saw him holding something in his left hand. As they caught in the light she realized it was the strands of her hair that she had dropped earlier.

"How did you…?" she whispered.

"Your hair is beautiful, so I noticed it right away," he said.

"But… why did you save me? You've never helped me before…"

"That's true – I never interfered because you're strong, and I knew you could handle yourself. But this time is different. This isn't one of you fights – this is between several clans and villages, and it's too big for one person alone."

He paused slightly, then added: "Besides – I didn't want to lose you."

Her eyes widened. "…even though I'm an outsider?"

He smiled at her. "What are you saying? You live in Konoha with us, don't you? That makes you a comrade."

She gazed up at him in awe. What he said made perfect sense to her. In that instant, he seemed like a great ninja to her, a person to look up to. Abruptly her opinion about him changed.

"Relax" he said quietly. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you anymore."

And they took off into the night.

* * *

He landed softly on the ground in front of her house. She opened her eyes and allowed him to help her to her feet. She found though she was still shaking she could stand quite well.

He steadied her by allowing her to hold on to his shoulder. She looked up at him gratefully.

"Thank you, Minato… for saving me."

She smiled. This made him blush slightly, but he didn't avert his eyes from her.

"I'm glad I found you. If something like this happens again… I'll be sure to come for you again. Is that alright?"

At this it was her turn to blush. "I…"

He smiled warmly. "You can count on me, Kushina."

He stepped forwards and embraced her shortly. She found no more words to say, just silently watched him pull away.

"See you," he said, still smiling. Then he turned to leave.

* * *

The next day Kushina found herself looking for Minato as she walked through the village. For a moment she thought she had spotted him on top of a roof, and immediately her heart skipped a beat. But then she realized it was someone else, and her hopes fell.

She was looking for him, trying to convince herself that that night had not been a dream. Frankly, her bruises were not proof enough to her.

Lost in thought she rounded a corner and bumped into a group of five genin. The boy in the middle – obviously their leader – grinned widely as he saw her.

"There she is," he sneered, advancing upon her. "You beat up one of my friends pretty bad the other day, didn't you? Now you're going to pay!"

He pushed her roughly; catching her by surprise and making her trip and fall backwards. She hit the ground hard, too surprised to react. She was still dazed and confused about what had happened the night before to defend herself, so when the boys' fists came down towards her she didn't even bring up her arms to shield her body.

She closed her eyes, ready for the pain. She heard the dull thud of fists hitting flesh – but the impact she anticipated did not come.

Instead she heard surprised gasps from the boys.

"Hitting a girl, and on top of that five on one? That's pathetic," a familiar voice said, somewhere close by. "Hit me again, if it satisfies you. But you won't hurt her anymore. Understand?"

Kushina opened her eyes to the sound of shuffling feet, only to see the five boys scattering.

Someone was standing in front of her, bending over her and offering a hand to help her up.

She took it and felt herself being pulled to her feet – and found herself face to face with Minato.

The look on his face was enough to reassure her that the night before had indeed been reality.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded, bewildered, still unsure what to say.

"I'm sorry," he said. She looked up, surprised.

"Why?"

"Because I said before that these were your fights, and that I wouldn't help you because you're strong enough. But just now – you weren't even defending yourself, so I stepped in. Even though I said I wouldn't."

She looked at the ground.

"No," she said. "That's okay. I just wasn't expecting an attack. I was preoccupied, that's why I didn't fight back."

He nodded. "I was watching you – you were looking for someone, right? You want me to help you?"

She blushed, avoiding his gaze.

"Uh… no – a-actually… I was looking for you."

He raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. "Me?" he asked.

She nodded, blushing harder.

"Y-Yes. Well… I… I-I was just… I wanted to m-make sure last night wasn't a d-dream – datteba ne!"

She pressed her hands over her mouth as the last words escaped her.

_Oh no_, she thought. _I got excited again…_

She looked up at him anxiously, only to see him laughing warmly. He placed his hands over hers and pulled them away from her reddened face.

"Don't be embarrassed", he said, smiling. "It looks like I'm not the only one who's nervous…"

His eyes were shining as he looked at her, his cheeks also slightly flushed. She couldn't help but get caught up in his gaze, amazed at the pure color of his eyes.

They stared at each other for a moment, then she averted her gaze from his and tried to pull away, hiding her face behind her hair.

"Don't," he said, letting go of her hand to brush a red strand out of her face.

"You're really cute when you're blushing," he chuckled.

Her cheeks turned, if possible, even redder.

"Stop it," she mumbled, turning to leave.

He didn't let her go, however, but grabbed her wrist as she turned to go, and whirled her around to face him again.

"I'm serious," he said. "I think you're more than just cute. You're beautiful, Kushina."

"…eh?"

Surprise mixed with the embarrassment in her expression.

"What do you…"

"I mean what I said. You're the most beautiful girl I know."

She didn't know how to respond, just stared up into his serious face.

"And I'm sure all the others think so, too. I bet they secretly like you, but they're too afraid to tell you!"

"No way," she said, taking a step back. "Always… everyone always says how ugly my hair is, and how I look like a tomato! There's no way they would-"

"But that's not true," he said indignantly. "How could anyone compare you to a tomato? You're so pretty, and I'm sure they can see that as well!"

She looked at the ground again.

"S-stop that. Stop complimenting me. I-I don't know what to say to that, datteba ne!"

His expression softened.

"That's okay," he said. "It doesn't matter."

She frowned, bewildered.

"Wha-"

He took a step towards her and embraced her.

"All you have to do is to accept my compliment – or reject it. It's that simple."

"W-well…"

Suddenly she was very aware of how close he was to her.

"T-then… t-thank you, d-datteba ne."

He smiled, tightening the grip of his arms around her.

"You see?" he whispered. "That wasn't hard, was it?"

She shook her head, her face rubbing against the fabric of his shirt as she did so. Somehow she was glad that this way he couldn't see her expression. She found she didn't even mind that much that his arms were around her.

However, now she had thought of a question to ask him. She pulled away slightly to look up at him.

"B-but… why?" she asked. "Why did you… say that?"

He smiled. "That's easy. Because I like you."

* * *

**Hey there, everyone!**

**I'll keep this short because I REALLY need to go to bed. This was just something I had to get out of my head - a little drabble, if you like to call it that. Anyway, it's a one-shot, but I might continue it someday... perhaps. ^^ May I remind everyone that the japanese "_I like you_" is like the english "_I love you_" - and that's also how it's meant here. :3**

**Well whatever, I hope you enjoy(ed) reading this - Any kind of feedback would make me happy. And I _promise_, I'll take up all the fictions on hiatus as soon as I can access my data again _ Stupid breakdown. But I'm working on it.**

**~ZoeTsunami~**


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